Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Can I press Mr. McDowell on housing? I take the point that PPPs are diverse and so on. Setting aside other types of housing, which we can debate another day, I do not see the case from the State's point of view for using PPPs for social housing because under the old-fashioned model, it was a win-win for the State. While there was upfront capital investment, there was a constant revenue stream coming back. Any alternative requires that much of the revenue does not come back to the State and, in some cases, the State will continue for a long time to spend in the private sector as part of the deal. If we do it ourselves, we can reduce current spending because if the State does not provide council housing, for example, money is given to private landlords to provide social housing and, therefore, it becomes an ongoing current expenditure, the cost of which goes up and up as rents increase and as the private sector charges the State more to provide this housing. With the traditional 100% funded public model, it is a win-win on every front for the State and the people who need social housing.